The Howard Hughes Corp. officially began construction Thursday on its third mixed-use condominium tower in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, with a groundbreaking ceremony for Aeo, which includes what will be Whole Foods Market’s flagship Hawaii store.

The Texas-based developer already has two other residential towers under construction, Waiea and Anaha, which are located nearby within the 60-acre Ward Village.

“My family is looking forward to calling Ward Village home, that will soon have thousands of families calling this neighborhood home,” said Nick Vanderboom, senior vice president of development for The Howard Hughes Corp.

The 54,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market is expected to open in about two years, possibly the first quarter of 2018, with Aeo opening sometime after that.

Todd Apo, vice president of community development for The Howard Hughes Corp., told PBN that it expects to start demolition of the existing that Office Depot building on the lot toward the end of March. Office Depot is currently moving out of that space.

Demolition will begin with the warehouses in the back of the Office Depot first, with construction fencing coming up around the project in mid-March.

The parking lot of the project is expected to remain open until the end of March.

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is partnering with Architects Hawaii Ltd. on the design of the project. Layton Construction is the general contractor.

Bounded by Queen and Kamakee streets, the block is behind the Ward Entertainment Center and also contains the former Nordstrom Rack.

Plans for Aeo also include 12,000 square feet of retail and more than 700 parking spaces in a block-filling podium to be topped with a narrow high-rise offering about 466 residential units.

No development cost was given for the project, which is named after the Aeo stilt bird that once lived the area.

“[The project] is consistent with our mission of honoring the past as we look to build a better future for this community,” Vanderboom said.

In November, the developer said that close to 35 percent of its units in Aeo are under contract.

Howard Hughes also is developing a 43-story, 424-unit mixed-use mostly affordable tower that will include a Longs Drugs ground floor store called Ke Kilohana at 988 Halekauwila at the corner of Ward Avenue and Halekauwila Street.

The project is expected to satisfy the developer’s affordable housing requirement set by state regulators.

The Howard Hughes Corp. has begun work on a space below T.J. Maxx at Ward Village in Honolulu for planned retail tenants, a spokeswoman for the Texas developer confirmed to PBN.

Howard Hughes was issued a $2.5 million building permit last week for a “Village Market” project at Suite No. 100 at 1170 Auahi St., according to public records from the City and County of Department of Planning and Permitting.

A spokeswoman for Howard Hughes told PBN that it is not a supermarket/grocery store, but that the developer is doing some work on the space beneath T.J. Maxx, which will eventually be a space for more retail tenants.

The actual name of the space is still to be determined and no timeframe for the development has been set just yet.

In addition to T.J. Maxx, the Ward Village Shops, at the corner of Kamakee and Auahi Streets, includes Nordstrom Rack, Pier 1 Imports and CorePower Yoga.

Honolulu-based Gateside Inc. is listed as the general contractor for the Ward Village Shops project.

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to start construction on its mixed-use condominium that will include Whole Foods Market’s flagship Hawaii location in the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako on Thursday, the Texas-based developer said.

Located at 1001 Queen St., at the corner of Queen and Kamakee streets behind the Ward Entertainment Center, Aeo will include 466 units and a 54,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market store on the ground floor.

The tower and organic supermarket chain will replace Office Depot on the block that used to also house a Nordstrom Rack, which has relocated within Ward Village.

During Halloween, a retailer selling costumes and other items for the late October holiday took the former Nordstrom Rack space, but has since closed.

The Howard Hughes Corp.’s (NYSE: HHC) 60-acre Ward Village includes two mixed-use luxury residential towers — Waiea and Anaha — that are now under construction, as well as Aeo, Gateway Towers and Ke Kilohana at 988 Halekauwila St, which will include a Longs Drugs store.

As The Howard Hughes Corp. builds high-rise condominiums and rebrands Ward Village, its retail footprint will grow by about 60 percent, according to Ward Village Shops Senior General Manager Bobbie Lau.

Ward Village Shops’ five commercial neighborhoods have more than 135 shops and restaurants, and one out of seven are locally owned businesses.

The developer plans to keep that ratio, Lau says.

“It’s our intention to keep that 70 percent ratio because that’s what makes us unique — the local mix, with some big boxes,” she said, noting that all high-rise condominiums will leave room for retailers on the first floor, sometimes two floors.

Lau said The Howard Hughes Corp. is working with current Ward Warehouse tenants to find future spots for them in the new development.

The new mixture of residents, local and foreign shoppers, and businesses will be an asset for Kakaako, she said, including the new flagship 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market store that is scheduled to open in 2017.

“It’s all going to be new and improved,” Holliday said. “I think it will be a great bustling space and with the addition of Whole Foods. It does attract a different person from Ala Moana — someone who is not in a rush — and as a retailer, I’m looking for the customer who wants something unique and different.”

Red Pineapple’s neighbor, Sedona, has been at Ward Centre for more than two decades. Sedona President and co-founder Malia Johnson said that while construction is underway at Ala Moana Shopping Center, she has seen a lot of customers returning and discovering the new shops Kakaako has to offer.

She says some of the appeal is that many of the shops located at Ward and in Kakaako have just one location, including Sedona, Red Pineapple and the University of Hawaii’s Rainbowtique store.

“We really drive the customers here, because we’re very much a destination store,” she said. “I wouldn’t stay here for 25 years if I didn’t really feel like part of the growth and a part of Kakaako.”

To learn more, read this week’s special report on Kakaako in the Friday print edition.

The Howard Hughes Corp is changing the name of Ward Centers to Ward Village Shops to better capitalize on and unify its 60-acre master redevelopment, which will initially include three new residential towers.

The Howard Hughes Corp. will make the name transition, including signage changes, this fall, said Katie Kaanapu, director of community and retail marketing for Ward Village Shops in Kakaako.

The complex’s five “shopping neighborhoods,” such as Ward Centre, will keep their names, she said.

Race Randle, senior director of development for The Howard Hughes Corp. said this week the name reflects the company’s goal to make the complex a true village that will include parks as well as three new towers — Anaha, Waiea and 988 Halekauwila — that will contain more than 900 residential units.

PBN reported in August that Howard Hughes plans to replace Ward Warehouse with two condo projects in the second phase of its plans.

Ward Village Shops has more than 135 shops in 750,000 square feet of space. Officials say 10 million people visit the complex each year.

Meanwhile, a number of retail stores and restaurants have recently opened or are about to there:

• Bellini Bistro & Bar will open in January next to Ninja Sushi. Its chef, Dave Nguyen, will prepare Italian dishes such as oxtail osso buco, fish piccata and tiramisu using ingredients imported from Italy.

• Paina Cafe, which already has a restaurant at Ward Warehouse, will open its second location in early 2015. Besides poke, the restaurant will also serve salads and sandwiches.

• Ben & Jerry’s is opening in January to Ward Village in Ward Entertainment Center and Mexico Cantina is opening at the end of the year at Ward Centre.

• MORI by Art + Flea, a fashion, art and music retailer that has monthly pop-up markets at Ward Village, will open its first retail that will feature local products at Ward Warehouse near Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt. MORI by Art + Flea will be taking the former Quiksilver space. Bellini Bistro & Bar will be occupying the former locations of Leloa Baby Collection and Taco Del Mar — they are combining two spaces. Paina Cafe will be occupying the former Tango Market location.

• Calendar Club, a seasonal shop, will open at Ward Warehouse next month.

• T&C Surf recently opened its second location at Ward Centre next to Genki Sushi in the former Jams World space, Kaanapu said. Jams World recently moved to the former Jeff Chang Pottery space.

This model in the Howard Hughes Corp. office previews the future look of the Kakaako skyline.

For David Striph and Nick Vanderboom, transforming a major part of Honolulu into a mixed-use community has become personal.

The top Howard Hughes Corp. executives in Hawaii plan to call Ward Village home. And they want the 60-acre development in Kakaako to be a place where people want to live, work and play.

To that end, they are trying to make the giant Mainland-based corporation they work for part of the local community.

Ward Village, which in its first phase alone represents more than $1.25 billion in local economic impact and nearly 9,000 direct and indirect jobs throughout Oahu, is one of about 30 projects in 16 states for the Dallas-based Howard Hughes Corp., which has approximately 1,000 employees and $5.3 billion in total assets.

Despite its size and lack of proximity to Hawaii, the company takes its Honolulu assets seriously, Striph and Vanderboom say.

“I have two young daughters,” said Striph, senior vice president of The Howard Hughes Corp., who oversee the company’s assets in Hawaii. “We’re hoping to create that environment where young people want to come back to and live.”

Vanderboom, senior vice president of development, who oversees the company’s strategic direction in Hawaii, agrees.

“It’s personal,” he told PBN. “All of us live here. It’s just building a place we are going to live in. We plan to be here a long time. We have our hands full with this project.”

Striph and Vanderboom began working on what is now Ward Village about four years ago. Two years later, they unveiled an urban master plan that includes four components on four separate blocks that eventually will double the retail, dining and entertainment space in Kakaako.

Ward Village has development rights for 22 high-rise towers and up to 9.3 million square feet of mixed-use space, including more than 4,000 residential units and about 1.5 million square feet for retail and other commercial use.

The redevelopment aims to create a distinctively different character for the neighborhood with new buildings along Ala Moana Boulevard being pulled back from the street, establishing what The Howard Hughes Corp. is calling a new face for the neighborhood.

“Dave and I have been here since the start,” Vanderboom said. “We spent a lot of time planning and preparing.”

Striph said that throughout the process it has brought on more than 40 people during the last four years, growing almost four-fold.

The Howard Hughes Corp., which acquired the property two years ago from Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., the owner of nearby Ala Moana Center, turned its focus for Ward Village from retail to creating an overall community.

“Retail was [GGP’s] focus,” Striph said. “We try to create a community with a shopping aspect with wide sidewalks, bike paths and other features.”

Staying true to Hawaiian culture

During the planning phases, Striph said the company made a point to invite Hawaiian culture experts and other community members to get involved.

“We invited them to meetings and we were a very open book with everyone,” he said. “We asked them for their input. We were completely open.”

Striph noted that the company knew the area’s history, especially with GGP’s experience in 2008. The former owner of the Ward Village Shops discovered ancient human remains on the site, halting construction of a Whole Foods store. The grocery chain eventually pulled out of the project before the building was completed, but announced plans earlier this year to return to open its flagship Hawaii store as part of a mixed-use project in Ward Village.

“The group we consulted with, they aren’t anti-development and they acknowledged that this is the right place to do it,” Striph said.

Vanderboom said the company has done what it said it was going to do in terms of its Ward Village plan.

“If we do it right, they are completely supportive of it,” he said.

Another example of the company’s effort to infuse cultural aspects into Ward Village is through the architecture of its towers.

“We try to make sure our architects are able to keep the Hawaiian aspects,” Striph said. “We also volunteered to turn all of the buildings mauka to makai. We even adjusted the park, altered its axis and created a pathway to the harbor to Central Kakaako. We also shrank floor plates of the buildings.”

State Rep. Scott Saiki, D-McCully-Downtown, who lives in Kakaako, says he feels that The Howard Hughes Corp. wants to do a good job.

“I know they spent some time and resources initially, learning about the culture and history of Kakaako before they started to develop their plan,” he said. “They incorporated what they learned into their plans. Obviously, they have capital and I’m hopeful they will use capital for the larger community. In a sense, we are fortunate that a company with capital is willing to make investments here.”

Deep pockets

Striph pointed out that the company has lots of cash on hand and is able to execute on its development projects to get to the point to finance them.

Earlier this month, The Howard Hughes Corp. said it secured a $600 million construction loan from Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies to build its Waiea and Anaha condo towers.

Thus far, it has signed contracts for more than three-quarters of the 482 total units in Waiea and Anaha. As of Nov. 1, it had contractural agreements for about 84 percent of the units in its Waiea tower and 71 percent in its Anaha tower.

Pre-sales for its first two market-rate residential condominiums at Ward Village started on Feb. 1 of this year and, as of Nov. 1, the company had received $139 million in buyer deposits, representing $783 million of sales revenue, according to its third-quarter earnings report.

It also noted that, as of Sept. 30, it had spent $38 million in development costs for the construction of Waiea, with total development costs expected to be about $403 million when the project is complete.

In terms of Anaha, as of Sept. 30, the developer had spent $17.5 million in development costs for the project, and total costs will reach about $401 million when the tower at the former Pier 1 Imports site is finished in early 2017. Work on the Anaha started over the weekend.

The 206-unit ONE Ala Moana condo high-rise atop Nordstrom’s parking garage at Ala Moana Center, which is being developed in a 50/50 venture with Honolulu’s The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group., is now about 87 percent complete with an expected opening by the end of this year.

Confidence in the market

“There is a huge unmet need for housing [and] we are trying to create housing for all types of income levels,” Striph said. “We are confident in the market.”

The Howard Hughes Corp. will stay with its plan in Hawaii, Striph said.

“[We’ll] keep marching through and listening to the community and taking that feedback and trying to improve the city,” he said. “We have this really unique opportunity to create something that’s never been created before.”

Jack Tyrrell, president of Honolulu-based Jack Tyrrell & Co. Inc., hopes The Howard Hughes Corp. will be in Hawaii for the long haul. He has accumulated $100 million in sales — 21 units in Waiea totaling $70 million and 17 units in Anaha totaling $30 million.

“They have this huge 60-acre drawing board that nobody has,” Tyrrell said. “They have the financial resources and expertise and motivation to create a remarkable, one-of-a-kind livable, workable, fun community.”

He said he has witnessed many local buyers, including people re-locating and investing, as well as Mainland China buyers and others from Chicago, California and Canada.

May Lew Tyrrell, executive vice president and marketing director for Jack Tyrrell & Co., said The Howard Hughes Corp. will have to meet everyone’s expectations and surpass expectations.

“I think they’re fully capable of doing that,” she said. “I think they will over-deliver to the buyers. They’ve got 22 projects over 20 more years. They cannot make any big mistakes, and I don’t think they will.”

The story behind the name

The Howard Hughes Corp. is named for the famed aviator, film director and recluse who was born in 1905 in Houston, Texas, and died in 1976 at the age of 70.

Hughes inherited his family’s successful oil tool business and began investing in films, including producing the hit “Hell’s Angels.”

He also got into real estate. In the 1950s, he acquired land in Las Vegas and developed the master-planned community of Summerlin, which he named for his grandmother, Jean Amelia Summerlin. A couple of decades later, the company was renamed the Summa Corp., and in 1994 it became The Howard Hughes Corp.

The Dallas-based real estate development and management firm was later sold to the Rouse Co. and became part of Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., which owns Ala Moana Center. Emerging from bankruptcy, GGP spun off The Howard Hughes Corp. as a public company in November 2010, and it assumed ownership of all of GGP’s planned developments, including master-planned communities such as what is now known as Ward Village.

Today, The Howard Hughes Corp. is an independent company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HHC.”

The Howard Hughes Corp.
• Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas
• Owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the country, including master-planned communities, operating properties, development opportunities and other assets spanning from New York to Hawaii.
• About 1,000 employees

Top executives
David Weinreb, CEO
Grant Herlitz, President
William Ackman, Chairman of the Board

Financials
New York Stock Exchange: HHC
Stock earlier this week: $148.33 per share

As of Sept. 30, 2014:
• Total assets: $5.3 billion
• Total revenue: $119 million
• Net income: $51 million
• Developments in 16 states

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to redevelop Ward Centers in Kakaako into Ward Village during the next decade.

The plan for the 60 acres includes adding 4,000 high-rise residential units and more than a million square feet of retail and commercial space, as well as open spaces and pedestrian-friendly streets.

Ward Village has received LEED Neighborhood Development Platinum certification, making the Honolulu project the nation’s largest LEED-ND Platinum-certified project and the only LEED-ND Platinum-certified project in the state.

The company has the development rights for 22 high-rises in Kakaako.

Phase One

Projected for completion in 2016, it includes development of three residential towers and a new sales and information center in the iconic IBM building.

The first phase represents more than $1.25 billion in local economic impact and thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Oahu, according to a study by ALH Urban & Regional Economics.

Phase Two

Early in its planning stages, this phase includes developing the first portion of Ward Village’s four-acre public park, which will be privately maintained and will open up a mauka-to-makai pedestrian connection from the center of Kewalo Basin Harbor to the heart of Ward Village. It will include water elements flowing toward the ocean, public seating, native plants and walkways.

It also includes Ward Village Gateway, the first mixed-use residential and commercial development project, which will be located at the gateway to Ward Village along Ala Moana Boulevard where Ward Warehouse is currently located.

The project, which the Hawaii Community Development Authority approved this week, will include a public park, two residential towers with 236 total units and about 20,000 square feet of retail along Auahi Street.

It also will include the Whole Foods-anchored project on the corner of Kamakee and Queen streets. This project includes a 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods and 12,000 square feet of additional retail space, as well as 466 residences.

Current projects

Ward Village Foundation: Launched in January with an initial commitment of $1 million to the local community over two years, the foundation, which has contributed $305,000 to local nonprofits thus far, is aimed at supporting “forward-thinking initiatives.”

Community events: They include the Kakaako Farmer’s Market, the Courtyard Cinema monthly film series, Ward Village weekly yoga series and Art+Flea.

Kewalo Basin Harbor: The Howard Hughes Corp. took over management of the Kewalo Basin Harbor in September and is considering redevelopment options for the aging small-boat harbor, including upgrading restrooms, adding food service and a convenience store for boaters, security and other improvements.

Ward Village Information Center and Sales Gallery: The center is located on the first level of the recently renovated IBM building, along with a sales gallery on the sixth level. The space is open to the public daily during regular business hours.

Waiea and Anaha: Currently underway are the first two residential towers at Ward Village. Waiea, located at 1188 Ala Moana Blvd. on the surface parking lot across from the movie theaters, broke ground in June and will have 171 residences. Anaha, located at 1108 Auahi St., recently broke ground on the former Pier 1 Imports site and will include 311 units. Both towers will include retail and restaurants fronting Kamakee and Auahi streets.

988 Halekauwila Street: Located across from Sports Authority on the corner of Ward Avenue and Halekauwila Street, this tower may include 424 residences, 375 of them priced for local residents with incomes at the reserved housing levels in Honolulu. It also is being considered as an affordable rental project.

Top Howard Hughes Corp.’s executives in Hawaii

David Striph , Senior Vice President

Striph oversees the company’s assets in Hawaii. He has more than 25 years of experience in commercial real estate and was previously a senior managing director at Westmount Realty Capital, a Dallas-based real estate investor. He also has held senior positions at Fortress Investment Group, Fremont Investment and Loan and Amresco Capital Trust. The former CPA is experienced in finance, acquisitions, and asset management.

He and his wife, Carole, moved to Hawaii from Dallas in January 2011. He is an avid boater, wakeboarder and wakesurfer and is a die-hard Jimmy Buffett fan.

Nick Vanderboom , Senior Vice President of Development

Vanderboom oversees the company’s strategic development in Hawaii. Before joining the company in 2010, he was vice president of development for TPMC California and earlier worked as an independent real estate consultant for Forest City Enterprises on mixed-use development projects in California, Nevada, Texas and Hawaii. He also worked at Allan D. Kotin & Associates, a Los Angeles-based real estate consulting firm specializing in public-private joint ventures.

Vanderboom earned a Master of Real Estate Development degree in 2007 from the University of Southern California and received his undergraduate degree in business from USC in 2006. He was a tight end on USC’s football team, winning two national championships and five Pac-10 (now Pac-12) championships.

Race Randle , Senior Director of Development in Hawaii

Randle oversees master planning and development within the 60-acre transformation of Ward Centers into the mixed-use community of Ward Village. He most recently managed residential development activities in Hawaii for Forest City Enterprises and Castle & Cooke Hawaii.

Before joining the team at Ward Village, she was senior vice president of Colliers Monroe Friedlander, now known as Colliers International Hawaii, where she was responsible for the company’s property management division throughout the state for more than a decade.

Lau is vice president of the Kakaako Improvement Association and previously served on the boards of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Hawaii and the Institute of Real Estate Management, Hawaii Chapter.

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to submit plans to the Hawaii Community Development Authority early next year outlining plans for a mixed-use project with significant commercial space that would replace the existing Marukai Wholesale Market near the Ward Entertainment Center, the head of the state agency overseeing the redevelopment of the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako told PBN this week.

Anthony Ching, executive director of the HCDA, said that the agency expects to see plans for the project from the Texas-based developer in the first or second quarter of 2015. He declined to divulge any other details about the project.

David Striph, senior vice president of Hawaii for The Howard Hughes Corp., which is in the midst of developing its 60-acre Ward Village master plan, told PBN Tuesday that the company currently does not have any information to share about a potential project at the Marukai Wholesale Market location.

“We are pleased to be continuing the planning stages for phase two of Ward Village with our Ward Village Gateway and “Block M” projects, both of which move us towards our vision for an integrated neighborhood that provides a gathering place for all,” he said in an email to PBN.

Ward Village Gateway, which will replace the existing Ward Warehouse shopping center with a couple of high-rise towers and street-level commercial and recreational space, won approval from the HCDA late last month.

The developer’s “Block M” refers to the Whole Foods Market project at the site of the former Nordstrom Rack store and current Office Depot, which will include a residential tower as well as additional retail space.

The HCDA is holding a decision-making hearing on this project on Jan. 7 at noon at its office at 461 Cooke St. in Honolulu.

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to redevelop Ward Centers in Kakaako into Ward Village over the next decade. The plan for the 60 acres includes adding 4,000 high-rise residential units and more than a million square feet of retail and commercial space, as well as open spaces and pedestrian-friendly streets.

Ward Village has received LEED Neighborhood Development Platinum certification, making the Honolulu project the nation’s largest LEED-ND Platinum-certified project and the only LEED-ND Platinum-certified project in the state.

HONOLULU —The Howard Hughes Development Corporation unveiled its plans for the redevelopment of the Ward Warehouse shopping center.

The company plans to erect two high-rise towers with 236 residential units and commercial space.

Plans also call for open space, a recreational area and 548 parking stalls.

The two story Ward Warehouse complex was built in 1975 and its redevelopment will displace a number of small businesses.

The transformation of the four-acre parcel will bring the most dramatic change to Kakaako.

It’s being called the Ward Village Gateway.

The Howard Hughes Development Corporation plan calls for two towers for a total of 236 residences, along with townhomes, two parking structures and commercial space.

The most significant feature will be a one-acre park–a grand central plaza with a promenade and that will open views to the ocean where there are currently none

“This project is going to create a one-acre park connecting mauka to makai, Kewalo Harbor all the way to the planned rail stop at Ward Village. It’s going to create improved street scapes with wide sidewalks, bike lanes and new retail space along Auahi Street,” said Nick Vanderboom, Vice President of Development.

The company’s plans will displace about 50 merchants at Ward Warehouse

It has begun meeting with tenants to see who can be relocated now.

“We are working closely with our tenants about relocation possibilities. We have intentionally held space within Ward Center and we are already in talks with some of them to relocate within Ward Village,” said Vanderboom.

It was during the presentation before the HCDA board that the company acknowledged it is considering adding a third tower but it’s not ready to say much about those plans just yet.

“There may be a third on that parcel but that would be consistant with the master plan though,” said, Senior Vice President David Striph.

The company isn’t also ready to say much about pricing of its units.

It did however signal that construction of the two Gateway Towers will take place around the same time that it moves forward with the construction of another tower at the corner of Ward and Halekauwila streets.

It was last year that the HCDA gave the green light for the more affordable reserve units project planned for the old Dixie Grill lot.

The company has been exploring whether it can build affordable rentals instead of for sale units.

Howard Hughes plans to ask for four modifications to the area rules for its Gateway tower project.

It is asking the Hawaii Community Development Corporation to increase the building platform to 65 feet and to be given a break on the 15-foot setback requirement.

The Howard Hughes Corp. plans to replace the Ward Warehouse shopping center in Honolulu with several condominium towers. The Texas-based developer plans to present the plans to the Hawaii Community Development Authority at a hearing on Oct. 1.

The Howard Hughes Corp. will present plans this fall to replace the existing Ward Warehouse shopping center in Honolulu with a new 236-unit residential high-rise project that includes two towers, as well as commercial and recreation space as part of its second phase of its Ward Village master plan, the head of the Hawaii agency overseeing the redevelopment of the Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako told PBN.

Anthony Ching, executive director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, said that the Texas-based developer also has plans to build another condo tower at the corner site of the existing Old Spaghetti Factory, completing the entire replacement of the 115,000-square-foot Ward Warehouse, which was opened in 1975 by Victoria Ward Ltd. and is the current home to dozens of small businesses.

Race Randle, senior director of development for The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC), told PBN in an email that, consistent with its approved master plan, the developer is continuing its long-term planning efforts for the entire property to make Ward Village an integrated, sustainable master-planned community that will continue to be a gathering place for Honolulu.

“We are still early in the planning process for phase two and there are no immediate plans for Ward Warehouse,” he said. “Ward Warehouse will continue to be open and at such time as we are ready to proceed with redevelopment, we will work closely with our tenants to assist them in relocating within Ward Village or to another location in the area.”

Ching said that The Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward Village master-plan calls for a potential of four towers — all with unobstructed views of the ocean overlooking the Kewalo Basin small boat harbor — for the Ward Warehouse site, as well as an urban park.

The HCDA has scheduled an Oct. 1 presentation hearing at noon at its office at 461 Cooke St. in Kakaako with two other hearings following the initial one for The Howard Hughes Corp.’s first Ward Warehouse condo project that includes two towers.

Located at 1050 Ala Moana Blvd., the address for Ward Warehouse, the two towers will rest on separate platform structures and have a combined total of 236 residential units, about 19,730-square-feet of commercial space, 42,178-square-feet of ground level open space, 80,242-square-feet of indoor and outdoor recreation space and 548 parking stalls.

The developer is asking the HCDA, which oversees the redevelopment of Kakaako, for four modifications, including to increase the maximum platform height to 65 feet with an allowance of an additional 15 feet in height for 15 percent of the roof area that will be used for accessory uses.

This project is part of The Howard Hughes Corp.’s second phase of its Ward Village plan, which planned to add more than 900 units in the first phase, which includes two mixed-use high-rises called Anaha and Waiea.

A third tower is in the works, which will be a mostly affordable residential tower with 415 units at 404 Ward Ave., the space where the former Kanpai Bar & Grill occupied, as well as California Beach Rock ‘N Sushi.

The Howard Hughes Corp. also is expected to present its plans soon for another mixed-use project as part of its second phase, which incorporates the new Whole Foods Market that will cover the entire block at Queen and Kamakee streets.

“The Whole Foods project was supposed to start the entitlement process in the third or fourth quarter of this year,” Ching said.

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, opening Friday in the former Grand Leyenda Cantina space at Ward Centre is one of five new tenants opening at Honolulu’s Ward Centers in the next two months.

Five new tenants prepare to open at Honolulu’s Ward Centers

Jenna Blakely Reporter – Pacific Business News

Five new tenants are preparing to open their doors at Ward Centers in Honolulu, adding a mix of eateries and clothing retailers to the shopping center that is being transformed into the master-planned community called Ward Village.

Three of the five new tenants are opening by the end of May, beginning with Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, opening Friday, located above Genki Sushi at Ward Centre in the former E&O Trading Co. space.

Other tenants opening by the end of May include Waiola Shave Ice, which is planning its third Hawaii location at Ward Warehouse across from Dairy Queen. in the former Island Gold Collection space. Also opening this month is The Monarch Tea Room, which will be located inside Na Mea Hawaii Native Books at Ward Warehouse.

Next month, And More By Local Fever — Jeans Warehouse Inc.’s largest store spanning 20,000 square feet of space — will offer fashion, home, accessories and more with 15 different departments, located in the former Nordstrom Rack location next to Office Depot.

Later this summer, Big Island Delights will relocate its location from Ward Centre to Ward Warehouse, located in the space formerly occupied by C. June Shoes.

The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC), which owns Ward Centers, is also developing the master-planned Ward Village community, where two mixed-use residential towers — Waiea and Anaha — will be built in the first phase.

Early in May, The Howard Hughes Corp. said that it reached contractual agreements for about half of the 482 units in its two ultra-luxury high rises that began pre-sales in February. Construction of the Anaha and Waiea towers is on track to break ground this summer, as PBN reported.

HAWAII AMERICANA REALTY

For the past 14 years, Mark G. Howard has practiced his skills as a licensed Realtor in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada and now Principal Broker & President of 'Hawaii Americana Realty', in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has gained a competitive edge in the real estate market by earning his status as an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR).